Second installment of getting to McBrides on Sunday

So now the word we chose for Sunday is eventful. 

Walking across the savannah for an hour and a half could have been very eventful, but thankfully the Lord was looking out for us.  Did I tell you that Chris McBride (hence McBrides’ Camp) is known for his research on Lions?  Fortunately I think all the animals except some of the grazers like puku and impala were having a mid afternoon siesta.  It was hot and dusty.  Lynn and I followed car tracks in the road and rejoiced when we saw yellow arrows.  We wanted it to be faster, but our hour and half was a good estimate because about that time we saw the round grass buildings with thatched roofs. 

 We went to the first people we saw and I am sure we were a sight – dusty and hot.  The workers took us to Chris and Charlotte McBride who immediately sent us with their workers back in a large safari truck to rescue Maureen, Michael and the Nissan.    So by 4:30 we were back with help. 

Hum the theme to Indiana Jones because help is on the way!!

It was the battery – useless, so Patrick (one of the workers) finally took the battery out of his vehicle and started Lynn’s car right up.  Both vehicles returned to camp.  I am going to leave car issues for now, except to say that Lynn is looking for a new vehicle in her future because this one is almost 20 years old and keeps having problems.  (this is a prayer request)

One reason I am so behind on my blogging is because out in the bush there is no internet, no electricity so I could hand write my posts but that was about it.

Our chalets were the round grass buildings we saw from the savannah.  I later learned that Charlotte had designed the buildings.  Each chalet had two beds, a couple of seating areas, a patio with seating overlooking the Kafue River and an indoor bathroom (well sort of indoors – you could see the Southern Cross up in the sky while you took a shower by candle light!) 

 

Michael and I stayed in the chalet called The River and Maureen and Lynn stayed in one called Sunset.  We freshened up a bit and joined the others staying at the camp around the camp fire.   

This is my idea of camping!!

You can stay at McBrides two ways, by camping in tents or by staying in the chalets.  Campers usually cook and bring their own food but participate in the safari activities.  Chalet is more full service, so our meals were provided.  Charlotte with the help of her staff prepares amazing meals out in the bush in a wood burning oven. 

Part of the fun of staying in places like this is the people you meet.  We met a couple from South Africa who were traveling to many of the national parks in Africa and had been on the road for 10 weeks.  We also met a man from Italy– an artist and illustrator who didn’t speak very much English, so Maureen used her French to communicate with him and later I used my art.

The real charm of the camp is Chris McBride, who is in his 70s and his wife Charlotte.  Chris is very witty with a British sort of humor (think PG Wodehouse and Henry Higgins, My Fair Lady), his job is to entertain the guests – he had us chuckling at his comments and the banter back and forth between Charlotte and Chris made the guests feel right at home around the elegantly laid table.  Because the Monday night's guests were South African, the discussions were more African history, African politics and social issues.  This has been an eye-opening trip for me on the racial dynamics of this county.   

Chris made Michael feel right at home, reminding him that his name in Hebrew meant “like God” and that no one can be God.  He also kept trying to come up with knock knock jokes because wake up in the morning was early.  We were on bush schedule now.